


Spares, Strikes, and Sacrifice

by jadesparrow333



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Gen, Stanuary 2021, bowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:15:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28827285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jadesparrow333/pseuds/jadesparrow333
Summary: “I’d do anything for the Pines Family...  And I mean anything.”Stan and Soos are challenged to a bowling tournament by a snot-nosed nine year old.
Relationships: Jesus "Soos" Alzamirano Ramirez & Stan Pines
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12
Collections: Stanuary





	Spares, Strikes, and Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> I'm no good at writing angst, so have some fluff instead :)

“ _ I’d do anything for the Pines Family... And I mean  _ **_anything_ ** .”

“Soos, we’re outta nachos,” Stan said as he watched his handyman come back from yet another gutterball at the bowling alley. 

“On it, Mr. Pines!” Soos said cheerfully, and walked over to the snack bar.

Stan shook his head as he got up to take his turn. Soos was hopeless when it came to bowling, even though he’d come with Stan almost every week for the past few years. Still, the young man was good company and always paid for nachos, so all in all it was a decent way to spend a few hours in the middle of the week.

Stan walked over to grab his red ball when a giant hand snatched it up first, and he looked up into the face of Bud Gleeful. 

“Well hey there, Stanford,” Bud said easily.

“Bud,” Stan said, annoyed. “Looks like you got my ball there.”

“Oh, I  _ am _ sorry, Stanford,” Bud drawled, “But you see my little Gideon decided he wanted a red ball and this one was the closest.”

Stan frowned. Did Bud Gleeful have a kid? He and Bud didn’t really socialize. They both ran the same type of business of selling sizzle instead of steak, Stan with his oddities and Bud with his used cars, but tended to avoid each other- a con man knows better than to trust another con man.

Bud turned around and cheerfully called, “Gideon, boy, get on over here and meet Stanford Pines,”

A small chubby boy about nine years old came trotting over to Bud, wearing the exact same bowling shirt as his father. He had freckles and round cheeks, but his defining trait was his enormous white blonde pompadour hair.

Stan couldn’t stop staring. “That’s, uh, interesting hair you got there kid.” he said, completely nonplussed.

A hateful expression crossed the boy’s face for just a moment, then he replaced it with a sweet smile. “My name’s Gideon,” he said, holding out his hand. “Thank you for letting me use your bowling ball, Stanford Pines.”

Stan didn’t take his hand. “Y’can’t use my ball, uh, Gideon,” he said. “I’m not done with my game yet.”

“But Mr. Pines, my daddy and I are practicing for the Father Son Bowling Tournament this weekend, and I really want to use this red ball,” he said as Bud handed it to him.

“It’s a little big for ya, don’t you think?” Stan asked, trying another tactic.

“No.” Gideon said simply, and walked over to the lane, let the ball fly, and watched it intently, putting his hand in his pocket.

The ball was clearly too heavy for the child, and slowly rolled towards the gutter…

But didn’t go in. Instead it slowly rolled back to the center, then seemed to pick up speed, and all ten pins were knocked down.

Gideon turned around with a bashful smile, but as he met Stan’s eyes, the smile turned to an evil little grin.

“Heheh, wow,” Soos’s voice right behind Stan made Stan jump. “That little kid is really good.”

“I guess,” Stan muttered. Then he adjusted his glasses and folded his arms, turning to the Gleefuls. “All right, so can I have my ball back?”

Gideon frowned. “Oh Mr. Pines, I’m so sorry, I was very rude. I know you don’t have a son to enter the Father Son Bowling Tournament with, you must be so sad.” He hung his head. “Pitiful, really.” he said quietly.

That was it. “Listen, kid,” Stan almost yelled, angrily stalking over to Gideon with his index finger pointed at him. “I’m gonna-”

“He has me,” Soos said cheerfully.

Soos’s comment snapped Stan out of his anger. “What?” 

“You have me, Mr. Pines. We can be in the Father Son Bowling Tournament together.”

Stan sighed, rolling his eyes as he dragged his hand down from his forehead to his chin. “Soos, you’re my employee.” 

“Well now, Stanford, the teams don’t have to be made up of literal fathers and sons,” Bud said, putting his hand on Stan’s back. “Why don’t you sign up with your employee there and have a fun little friendly competition this weekend?”

“Yes, Stanford, see if you can beat Daddy and me,” Gideon said, not breaking eye contact with Stan. His voice somehow lowered. “It’ll be  _ fun _ .”

“I could beat you seven ways from Sunday,” Stan said angrily. “And I don’t need a plastic trophy to prove-”

“Did I mention there’s a cash prize?” Bud cut in smoothly.

“Soos, sign us up.” Stan said immediately. 

“Yuss!” Soos said, and shoved the nachos in Stan’s hands as he went to go sign up.

“Oh goody!” Gideon said. “We’ll all have such a good time, right Daddy?”

“That’s right, son,” Bud drawled. “Now I believe it’s my turn to bowl. See you, Stanford!” he took his ball and walked over to the lane.

Stan leaned down so he was on eye level with Gideon. “I’m watchin’ you kid. Don’t think I buy into all that cuteness crap.”

“Oh Stanford, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Gideon giggled, and once again gave Stan an evil smile before turning around to take his seat. “And thanks for letting me use your bowling ball.”

“Mr. Pines! Mr. Pines, I got us signed up!” Soos came running towards Stan, holding a flyer. “Our team name is ‘Doin’ Pine.’ Get it?”

“Yeah Soos,” Stan pinched the bridge of his nose, then put on a smile. “All right. Let’s see if we can get you good at bowling by Saturday!”

  
  


But by Friday evening, Soos was, if anything, worse.

“All right,” Stan said. “You’re probably just gettin’ into your head too much. We’ll put up the bumpers, and then when your ball doesn’t go into the gutter, you can relax and focus on knockin’ down those pins.”

“Sure thing!” Soos said jovially.

“How are you this cheerful, Soos? It’s not right.” Stan shook his head.

“It’s fun to spend time with you, Mr. Pines. Whatever’s going on,” Soos answered easily, and picked up a ball to send it down the newly-bumpered lane.

Stan grunted, but couldn’t hide the small smile on his face.

Soos let the ball fly with gusto, confident he would knock down a few pins with the bumpers protecting his ball from the gutter-

But the ball hit the bumper with such speed it launched into the air, hit one of the score screens over the lane, ricocheted off of the ceiling, landed on someone’s soda, rolled on the floor and tripped a random bowler, then went down another lane-

And still ended up in the gutter.

Soos and Stan watched, frozen, until Soos finally laughed. “Heh, what’re the odds of that?” 

They were going to lose. Stan was good, but Soos was hopeless. Meanwhile, Bud and his brat Gideon were going to gloat every time they saw him...

Stan was brought out of his thoughts by the noise the bowling monitors made when someone got five strikes in a row. He turned his head to the very farthest lane to see a chubby teenager with a green polo shirt and brown spiked hair pump his fist in the air. 

Stan wandered over to him. “Hey kid, did you really just get five strikes?”

The teenager looked bashful. “Uh, yeah...”

“Kid, you got a gift!” Stan shouted, holding out his arms. “You competing at tomorrow’s tournament?”

The kid rubbed the back of his neck and looked down. “No, my dad is out of town for work.”

Stan’s eyes grew wide. He couldn’t believe his luck. “What’s your name?”

“Uh… my friends call me Thompson.”

“Thompson,” Stan put an arm around the teenager’s shoulders and gave him the ol’ showman’s grin. “How would you like to join another bowling expert in a chance to not only win a shiny trophy, but beat a little brat of a kid into bowling oblivion?” 

“Wasn’t there something about a cash prize too?” Thompson asked.

“Uh, no, I don’t- I don’t remember that,” Stan said quickly. “But whaddya say?”

“Mr. Pines?” Soos’s voice, full of hurt, made Stan wince. “What- what’s going on?”

“Soos! I-” Stan got panicky. “I- uh,” Stan looked into his loyal employee’s eyes. “What am I doin’?” he muttered to himself. He couldn’t just kick Soos to the curb. He turned back to Thompson. “Sorry kid, I forgot- I already have a teammate.”

“Oh-OK,” Thompson responded, confused, then shrugged and went back to bowling.

Stan sighed, but the look of hope and happiness in Soos’s face made him smile. “Hey. Howzabout we quit for the night, huh?” he asked, clapping Soos on the back. “We gotta be up bright and early for the tournament tomorrow.”

Soos returned Stan’s smile. “Sounds good, Mr. Pines!”

Stan wasn’t really one for introspection at this point in his life- at least that’s what he told himself- but it was kinda nice to have someone he could sacrifice a little for. It made him feel good.

Whoa, he must have really been tired. He was glad Soos was driving.

  
  


The next morning Stan took another look at his watch while waiting in the gift shop. It was unlike Soos to be late; where was that knucklehead?

There was the squealing of brakes in the parking lot, and Stan stalked out of the Mystery Shack, putting on a scowl. “Finally! Soos, what took you so-” he stopped as he saw another person sitting in the back seat of Soos’s truck. The kid from last night...

“Hey Mr. Pines!” Soos called cheerfully from the driver’s seat. “Sorry I’m late! I had to pick up Thompson.”

Stan threw his bowling bag into the truck bed, then climbed in the passenger seat. “Uh… I don’t get it,” Stan finally said.

“Oh!” Soos said as they drove away. “Heheh, wouldn’t you know it, after I got home last night I tripped and sprained my wrist.” he held up his right hand, which appeared to be wrapped in papers towels and scotch tape. “I can’t bowl today! But I didn’t want to leave you hanging, so I called up Thompson and he said he could be my filler!”

Stan looked at the back seat, where Thompson waved nervously.

He looked back at Soos, who was humming along under his breath to the pop song playing on the radio.

“Soos,” he started.

“Don’t worry, my wrist should be fine later on today. It should not affect my work.”

Stan opened his mouth, then saw the look of happiness in Soos’s eyes.

Huh. Looks like Stan wasn’t the only one who didn’t mind sacrificing for people he cared about.

“I won’t let ya down, Soos,” Stan said as they parked at the bowling alley.

“Go get ‘em, Mr. Pines.” Soos responded with a nod.

  
  


The tournament was down to Doin’ Pine, made up of Stan and Thompson, and the Gleeful Gang, made up of Bud and Gideon. It was neck and neck, and Doin’ Pine was at their last turn. Thompson had bowled a strike, and it was Stan’s turn to follow suit.

Stan narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath, getting into his bowling position, and let the ball go.

It had a promising start, on track to knock all ten pins down at once...

Something made Stan look away and instead look at Gideon, who was watching with his fists clenched and an intense look on his face

And Stan’s ball made a sharp turn to the gutter.

“ _ What _ ?” he yelled.

“Oh, what a pity, Stanford.” Gideon said. “Good thing you have another chance!”

Stan narrowed his eyes, unable to shake the feeling that something was going on…

“‘Scuse me, sorry, coming through,” Soos haphazardly made his way through the crowd carrying a couple of sodas, and accidentally ran into Gideon, knocking the boy over.

“Gotcha guys a drink- this is getting intense!” Soos said, setting the sodas down. “Whoa, what’s his problem?” Stan and Thompson followed his stare to Gideon, who was kneeling on the floor, frantically searching for something.

Suddenly Stan felt a lot better. “Who knows? Thanks for the soda, Soos.” he took a swig, picked up his ball-

And knocked down all ten pins.

In order to beat them, the Gleefuls would need to knock down ten pins each.

“All right now, Gideon, it’s your turn,” Bud said to his son, who was still scrambling on the floor.

“I can’t go now, Daddy, can’t you see I’m looking for something?”

“Gideon,” Bud said warningly.

“Not! Now!” Gideon screamed.

Bud shrugged. “All right, I’ll go next.” He picked up his ball and bowled a strike.

Thompson, Soos, and Stan shared worried looks.

“Gideon,” Bud said mildly. “Now you really have to go.”

“Fine!” Gideon shouted, eyes still searching on the floor. He grabbed a ball and haphazardly threw it down the lane, then resumed looking, not noticing that his ball knocked down one pin.

“All right now, one more time,” Bud said nervously.

Gideon froze. “Do you know what’s at stake here, Daddy?” he asked in a soft voice.

“Well, the bowling tournament…”

“It’s not the tournament!” Gideon took his bowling ball and threw it down the lane, then whirled around. Suddenly his anger disappeared and a huge smile crossed his face. “I found it!” he dove down under the score table and picked something up…

As his ball fell into the gutter.

Doin’ Pine had won the tournament.

  
  


When everything had died down, Stan shook Thompson’s hand. “Good job, kid. Thanks for fillin’ in.”

“I’ve never won a trophy before,” Thompson said. 

“Keep it.” Stan said. “Show it to your old man. I’m sure he’ll be proud.”

Thompson smiled. “Thanks, Mr. Pines!” and walked away.

“Hey, uh,” Stan rubbed the back of his neck. “Thanks, Soos. For your… I know you wanted… thanks.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mr. Pines.” Soos said with a smile. He had taken the fake cast off ages ago.

“Yeah,” Stan said. “Hey- wanna go grab some lunch? I’ll, uh…I’ll pay,” he barely got out. “After all, I got that cash prize! And after that, if your wrist is feelin’ up to it, we can vandalize Bud’s car lot! You know what I say- always kick a man when he’s down!”

Soos beamed. “Yeah, I’d like that!” 

“Alright,” Stan said, and they walked out to the parking lot together.

**Author's Note:**

> I thought it would be fun for Thompson to be amazing at something, but it still had to be something slightly dorky. ;)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
